Help Ollie Get a New Hip

Meet our boy, Ollie. Ollie was brought to the U.S. from the streets of Turkey in September 2020 after what we're learning was a pretty rough start to his short life. While we don't know as much as we'd like about his background, we know that he was living on the beaches of Turkey, more than likely stealing food (like the bandit he is), charming the locals with his handsome happy grin, and finding himself in more than a bit of trouble.

Due to an injury that we have always assumed was a car accident, Ollie was brought in from the streets briefly to tend to his wounds, have his front right leg amputated and sent back out along his way. Thankfully, he was eventually taken in by a local rescue in Turkey and, once COVID restrictions lightened, brought all the way to Colorado to find his new forever family.

Ollie has been with us since November 2020 and has brought more joy and happiness to our family than we ever thought possible. He is independent yet incredibly sweet and loving. He loves his new family (dogs, kids, cat and all). He has more energy than one would think for a 4 1/2 year old tri-pod and not so patiently awaits his daily walks, which are inevitably never long enough for his liking! He loves rolling around in the snow (in the winter), lounging in the nearby creek (all year round), stealing rotisserie chickens off the counter (whenever he can) and barking hello at everyone who has the audacity to walk by the house (Every. Single. Day). Despite Ollie's checkered past, he loves his life and wakes up each morning ready to go!

We adopted Ollie from Lucky Day Rescue in Colorado with his "tri-pod" status and knowing that he would some day need a bit of extra love and care. We just didn't realize how quickly or the extent to which he would need it. About two weeks ago on a Sunday morning after no obvious trauma or injury, Ollie started limping and holding up his left rear leg, effectively turning from a tri-pod to a bi-ped. Not once did he complain, cry or otherwise make known how much trouble he was having. He just hopped around on 2 legs instead of 3. After giving it a few days of rest and anti-inflammatories, we opted to take him in for x-rays.

Unbeknownst to us for the last year, or to the rescue who brought him here, Ollie had another old injury that was clearly contributing to his pain. The vet seemed absolutely shocked when she told us that he had a partially dislocated left hip (the one prompting us to take him in), significant atrophy in his left thigh muscles and shortening of that same leg. It's obvious from the amount of degradation that these are not new issues, but it's shocking how he has been managing to run, walk and play with this amount of trauma.

Based on the x-rays, we're piecing together that it likely was a car that hit him back in Turkey, resulting in the amputated front leg and partially dislocated back left from the roll. The front leg must have been the obvious injury and the hip was never tended to or known about.

Perhaps more surprisingly, and definitely more saddening, the x-rays also show what appears to be bullet fragments in both his left knee and shoulder blade. What in the world did this poor guy go through in his past life?

At this point, since she feels that an FHO surgery may not be successful due to the amount of muscular atrophy in his thigh, the vet is recommending a full hip replacement for our boy, which will have to be completed by an orthopedic specialist.

While we had planned on having to manage his front shoulder giving him trouble a few years from now, this recent hip issue is coming out of left field and we just can't swing the estimated $7,000 surgery plus an unknown amount of physical therapy to ease his healing process. He is already scheduled for his first physical therapy session next week with the hope of creating strength in his legs in the meantime.

It has taken a lot for us to comes to terms with asking for help but we want to do everything we can to help this sweet guy live as long a life as he can and to be as pain free as possible. Unfortunately, we just don't have the means to make this happen on our own. Anything at all would be appreciated to help offset the cost of his much needed surgery and continued care. So much love and thanks to all!